


Unworthy Fools

by fairyheart



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Romance, Self Insert, ahhhhhhhhh, also high honor arthur is the only canon arthur, dont even think anybody's reading but uhh, i just really wanna kiss arthur morgan, i stand by that, this is just self indulgent shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-02-07 07:45:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18616237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairyheart/pseuds/fairyheart
Summary: Naomi Rowland is a simple woman, with a simple life. She never took herself as an adventurer or anything of the sort. She daydreamed about one day leaving the old dusty town of Rhodes and going somewhere better, but that's all she'd do. She never acted upon the want to go somewhere else, afraid of failure, and afraid of homelessness.But a chance encounter with a handsome visitor to the town of Rhodes would change that for her.





	1. Chapter 1

“I swear to god, the sheriff is absolutely useless when it comes to those awful men.”

 

Naomi had to agree with that.

 

The sheriff of Rhodes was a useless drunk. He was apart of that damned Gray family. He wouldn’t stop feuding with the Braithwaites long enough to actually do his job.

 

The Lemoyne Raiders basically ran things around here and they might as well have, anyway.  With the two major families of the town constantly at each other’s throats, the Raiders were allowed to do whatever they liked, and there were never consequences for it.

 

“Well we can’t do much about them Amelia,” Naomi replies as she clips the wet bed sheet to the clothesline.

 

“That’s all you have to say? Aren’t you worried. They made a mess of the saloon not too long ago. I think a couple of poor bastards even ended up dead,” Amelia says, her expression showing obvious distress.

 

“Only a couple? That’s surprising. After they come through normally that’s the amount of people walking out in one piece,” Naomi retorts, picking up the basket of dried clothing and sheets. Amelia sighs and shakes her head going back to her work. Naomi turns and walks back into the house, carrying the basket on her hip.

 

Naomi was a quiet, but hard working young woman. She’d lived in Rhodes most of her life. Now at 21, she worked as a maid, making a reasonable wage. It wasn’t much, but she also had a room of her own. Even if it was small, she had clothes on her back so she he couldn’t necessarily complain. Most work for women wasn’t exactly ideal. Especially in a tiny town like this. It was either working the saloon, or becoming a scullery maid. She chose to be a maid. She could clean.. it was simple.

 

It certainly wasn’t glamorous work, but after doing it so long the drab clothing, and her dry hands from washing so many dishes, became a very normal thing for her. It wasn’t as if she had that luxurious of a life when her parents had been alive. It was a simple one. She’d been a child that was very easy to please.

 

She made quick work of putting the sheets and clothes away. She shut the dresser drawer she’d been putting clothes away in and stood up straight. That’s when she found herself staring face to face with her reflection in the mirror above the dresser. Oh, she was a mess.

 

Her brown hair was haphazardly put up, now already slipping out of the bun she’d tried to put it in that morning. She’d never been good at getting her hair to behave. She furrowed her brow as she reached up to try and fix her hair back into place.

 

She had green eyes, and freckled skin, a very average build -maybe some would say plump. She kept her wrinkled and stained apron cinched at her waist. It made her figure a bit more pleasing to her own eyes, at least. When she looked in the mirror she wanted to be... okay with what she saw. And she _was_ okay with it. She felt vanity shouldn’t be something she was worried about given that she was just a maid.

 

Naomi didn’t dislike the work she did. As long as she finished what was needed to be done she had quite a lot of freedom overall. She wasn’t mistreated by her and Amelia’s employer either. He was an overall very nice man. She supposed she got lucky with that. Women in general weren’t exactly treated well in this town so she counted herself as fortunate.

 

She picked up the empty basket then after she finished fixing her hair and walked out of the room. It was mid afternoon and a rather nice day, and luckily all of her chores were finished with.

 

“Amelia, I’m gonna head over to the general store and pick up a few things,” she says, as she walks past the older woman.

 

Amelia smiles slightly, giving a nod. “Alright. Don’t be gone long, though,” she replies.

 

Naomi never particularly felt threatened walking through town. While the Lemoyne Raiders coming through caused anxiety and fear much of the time, usually things were overall very quiet. She tried not to think too much about it.

 

She walked through the door of the general store, the bell jingling lightly.

 

“Afternoon, Miss Rowland.”

 

Naomi smiles at the store owner. “Good afternoon,” she replies politely. “Got anything new in today?” She asks, looking around the store.

 

“Got a new shipment of Guarma Rum. It’s good stuff,” he replies. She chuckles a bit, shaking her head.

 

“Oh I don’t think I need to be puttin’ that in Mr. Clarence’s cabinets,” she replies. The shop keep chuckles as well, understanding.

She does curiously go over to the alcohol shelf, examining the rum. A heavy glass bottle, holding a golden liquid. She could just tell how intoxicating it was from the look of it. No, that definitely didn’t need to be in the cabinets at home. She sets it back on the shelf and turns to the others. She gets a health tonic, some vegetables, and some cigars (for Mr. Clarence as he was running low). She also decided to get herself a new apron as hers was quite ragged.

 

“You raised your prices recently?” She asks, handing over seven dollars.

 

“Don’t have too much of a choice lately, Miss Rowland. Times are gettin’ hard,” he replies, seeming apologetic. She smiles sympathetically.

 

“I understand...times are certainly difficult,” she says, as she accepts her change and puts it in her coin purse. She turns and waves goodbye, walking out of the store with a sigh.

 

She walked over to the post office then to check if there was any mail for Mr. Clarence. She realized that she wasn’t exactly taking a break she was only doing more errands. She really needed to stop doing that. She however decided since she was already part way there that there wasn’t a point in stopping.

 

She glanced around as she walked to the post office, keeping herself preoccupied on the stroll there. It was such a dry place they lived in...on a weather basis. The decades long family feud currently happening, and the constant fear of getting robbed or killed by a gang of savage men made things less dry socially that was for certain. What she’d do for a bit of rain though. It’d been weeks- no months, since their last rainfall.

 

She walked up the steps to the post office door and pushed it open. The moment she walked in she suddenly felt a heaviness in the pit of her stomach, like something wasn’t...quite right. She knew eyes were on her. She quickly asked if there was any mail for Mr. Clarence, wanting to simply get back home now. She glanced over, seeing the two men sitting on a bench, seeming to leer in her direction. She felt knots in her stomach then, hating the way their eyes stared.

 

“Nothin’ fer a Clarence ma’am,” the man tells her.

“Um, anything for Rowland?” she asks quietly.

“What’s the full name?”

She’s hesitant as she’s certain these men are eavesdropping on her. “Um...Naomi Rowland,” she answers.

 

The postal worker turns and looks, pulling a letter out then. “Yep here ya are ma’am,” he says handing it to her. She smiles politely and takes it, before turning and walking out. She tries to avoid looking towards the two men, but she still feels their eyes on her. Once she’s out of the building she feels slightly better and begins to walk back towards the house.

 

“Goddamn, men,” she mutters under her breath before looking down at the letter. She read the return address and her brow furrows.

 

_Elaine Watson_

_Saint Denis_

 

Her Aunt Elaine was contacting her? The woman who refused to take her in. The woman who wanted nothing to do with her. Why was she contacting her? She felt that same knot come back into the pit of her stomach, but this time it wasn’t one of fear and discomfort, moreso one of slight anger.

 

Naomi found a bench to sit at a little ways away from the post office so she could open and read the letter. She wanted to know what this wretched woman wanted from her exactly. Especially given how money couldn’t possibly be it. Aunt Elaine had more money than she could do anything with. She married a rich man, and that rich man died not too long afterwards, leaving her with all of his possessions as well as money. That’s all she really knew about her for the most part.

 

The letter was written in an almost impossible to read cursive. Naomi had taught herself to read from a young age...she still struggled however...especially when it came to peoples damned handwriting. She managed though.

 

_My dearest niece,_

 

_I’m writing to you out of a familial concern. Seeing as I am your only living relative I wanted you to come live with me. You are now a young woman, you’ll be in need of a mentor of sorts. I hear you’re working as a scullery maid currently. That isn’t at all what a woman of your looks should be doing with her time. Especially given that at your age I was already married. I was hoping that you’d come to the city where we can discuss your future further. Consider my offer, and please write back as soon as possible._

 

_Love, Aunt Elaine._

 

Every word she read made her more furious than the last. The nerve of this woman. After rejecting her as a child, and leaving her an orphan, she had the gall to contact her after this long. While the letter itself was infuriating as is, the fact she didn’t even properly explain her sudden interest in her life was what really got to Naomi. Elaine knew nothing about her.

She crumpled up the letter in her frustration and anger. Some tears came to her eyes then and she tried to blink them back.

 

“What’s got ya so upset lil lady?” A rather unpleasant voice interrupted her train of thought and she gasped slightly looking towards it. It was one of the men from the post office. God, why’d she sit down here.

 

“I’m not upset, thank you very much,” she says as she gets up from her seat on the bench. “In fact I was just leaving,” she says, beginning to turn only to run into the second man.

 

“Why ya in such a rush. Ya know ya didn’t even say hello to us back there, that ain’t too polite,” the second man says, his hands resting on her arms. She tries to gently pull out of his grasp.

 

“Oh...well I must’ve not noticed you both. I apologize. Now if you don’t mind I have to get home-” she gasped as her wrist was grabbed.

 

“I don’t much like that tone yer takin’ with us. We just wanna get to know ya a little better.”

 

She takes a breath and looks down. Naomi had been in situations like this before, but the men hadn’t been quite as insistent. Usually she was able to slip away after they realized they weren’t gonna get anywhere with her. This time though...she could tell these men weren’t just townsfolk.

 

They were a couple of Raiders.

 

“I’m flattered but...I’m late for something important,” she stammers slightly trying to get the man’s fingers from around her wrist off of her. His grip was tight. And she was very afraid that he wasn’t gonna let go anytime soon. She looked around, hoping to lock eyes with someone, anyone who would come over and just help her. But out of the few people who were out and about, no one was even looking her way. She felt helpless.

 

“Fer what? Ya got a feller?” The first man asks pointedly.

 

“Yes...and he’ll be worried if I don’t get home,” she lies through her teeth.

 

“Show us where ya live and we’ll bring ya home then,” the second one says with a smirk. “Maybe we’ll have a little conversation with that feller of yers.”

 

Naomi didn’t know what else to say, she was panicking. What if they-

 

“Hey! Can’t ya two idiots tell she ain’t interested! Leave the lady alone.” She looks up, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders then. Her eyes land on a man she hadn’t seen in town before.

 

“Why don’t ya mind yer own business,” one man says in irritation.

 

The man suddenly pulls out two guns, the click of both of them seeming to echo in Naomi’s ears as she watched him. “I said leave the lady alone. Now I’d hate to cause a big drama, but I’m sure nobody’ll miss you two too much, ‘specially not her seein’ how eager she is to get away from ya,” he says firmly.

 

“Shut your goddamn mouth, ya don’t know what she wants,” the other man retorts.

 

“Well it clearly ain’t you two _attractive_ fellers. Now if ya don’t leave her be the only thing you’ll be attractin’ is flies,” he says threateningly, both guns pointed at the men's heads. The two men stare, seeming angered by the man’s words but soon Naomi’s wrist is let go of and they walk away, seeming to not think this was worth it.

 

The man sighs tiredly and holsters his guns.

 

Naomi’s heart was beating so loudly in her ears. She felt a bit dizzy and nauseous, not knowing what might’ve happened if this man hadn’t come along. “T-thank you,” she manages to get out.

 

“You alright?” he asks carefully as he takes a few steps closer. She nods, and looks down, a hand on her stomach. She felt sick. The intent in their eyes and voices were obvious.

 

“Yes I’m fine,” she replies, although she certainly didn’t look it. What they must have been thinking of doing to her she didn’t want to imagine.

 

“Ya need someone to walk ya home?”

 

She looks at her savior then and nods. “That’d be much appreciated, thank you.”


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur never knew what to expect coming into these new towns. He was simply taking a stroll when he came across the scene of two men obviously harassing a woman. He wasn’t the type to just walk away from that, he wanted to help. He had morals.

 

He kept his distance as he walked next to her, following just close enough so she’d at least feel safe. “You sure yer alright?” he asks her then, noticing how pale she looked.

 

She gives a nod, taking a deep breath. “I’m alright...thank you again, sir...those men are always coming through here causing trouble,” she tells him. “What’s your name, sir? I’ve not seen you in town before,” she asks then.

 

“Arthur Callahan,” he answers with a small smile. “I helped out Sheriff Gray with a bit of a problem when I first came through,” he says.

 

“Figures that man couldn’t even do his job properly without getting some passersby to help him,” she says with a roll of her eyes. She seems to realize then that she hadn’t even properly introduced herself in turn. “I’m sorry...um, it’s wonderful to meet you Mr. Callahan. I’m Naomi. Naomi Rowland,” she says. She sticks out her hand and he shakes it with a smile.

 

“Pleasure to meet ya, Miss Rowland. That’s a lovely name,” he replies.

 

She seemed like a sweet young woman. Although he probably wasn’t seeing her at her best given she was still noticeably shaken up, looking rather pale and a bit disheveled.

 

“Here it is,” she says as she points to a house with a small picket fence around it. “Thank you for walking with me,” she tells him as she walks over to the gate. Arthur gives a polite nod.

 

“No trouble at all ma’am. Hope to see ya around again,” he says with a wave as he turns on his heel to walk off. Poor thing…

 

*********************************************

 

Naomi walked inside the house and shut the door setting her basket down that she’d been carrying. She’d tried to be calm but now she was shaking like a leaf. She looked down at her wrist where the man had grabbed her and it seemed a bruise was beginning to appear. She knew that things wouldn’t have ended well if that kind man hadn’t stepped in.

 

“Naomi, are you back dear — oh sweetheart, ya look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Amelia says as she stops in the hallway just in front of Naomi. She takes a step closer. “What happened?” She asks carefully.

Naomi releases a shaky breath. “Nothin’...I’m fine...a very kind man walked me home from the post office,” she explains. “Picked up a few things at the store as well,” she says as she hands the basket to Amelia. She quickly plucks the crumpled up piece of paper off the top of the basket though.

 

“What’s that?” Amelia asks. Naomi shakes her head, not wanting to speak about it.

 

“Nothin’, Amelia. I’m gonna go lay down for a second. Don’t feel too well,” she says softly. Amelia looks at her, concerned.

 

“Okay dear,” she says as she turns to carry the basket to the kitchen. Naomi walks up the stairs and heads to her bedroom. Once she arrives she shuts the door and sits down on her small bed. She looks down at the crumpled up letter before smoothing it out on her side table so she can look at it again.

 

It still infuriated her. The audacity of this woman to contact her like this. Naomi hadn’t been this upset in a long while. She sniffled slightly and felt angry tears come back into her eyes. She quickly wiped them away though. She laid back on her bed shutting her eyes for a moment.

 

That man…

She wasn’t a religious woman, but maybe guardian angels did exist. Maybe that man was sent by one...or maybe he was one. Or maybe it was just a fortunate coincidence that he happened to be there at that time.

Most likely the last thing. She felt so silly still thinking about him. It was a chance encounter. And not something she still needed to think about.

 

After resting a few moments she got back up and straightened her dress a bit before heading back out of her room. She walked downstairs and went to the kitchen where Amelia seemed to be getting ready to start supper. “Need any help?” she asks with a small smile. Amelia looks to her and smiles back.

 

“Oh, ya feelin’ better already?” she asks. Naomi nods a bit.

 

“Of course, I recover fast, you know me. I’m real resilient,” she says with a chuckle as she tied her apron a bit tighter. “When’s Mr. Clarence gettin’ back home?” she asks.

 

“Oh, he’s in Saint Denis today. Meetin’ with some fancy folk. He’s thinkin’ about buyin’ an estate there apparently,” she explains. Naomi is surprised at that.

 

“What?” she questions. Amelia notices Naomi’s confusion and chuckles a bit. 

 

“Mr. Clarence never planned on stayin’ here for longer than he needed to. The past ten years has mostly been him getting his savings together. You know Mr. Clarence has always been a businessman,” Amelia tells her.

 

Naomi hadn’t known anything about this. She just thought Mr. Clarence was comfortable. Not sitting on anything much. Of course she’d only been working here since she was around 19. So she supposed he never thought to tell her.

 

“Oh…” she murmurs, looking down at the potato she was peeling. “He’ll be back late then?” she asks.

 

“Not too late. He told me this mornin’ he’d still be here in time for supper. We’ll keep a plate warm for him,” Amelia says with a smile. “You know he wants to bring us with him. He says he doesn’t care much for those butlers and other maids they have there. He thinks they don’t work as hard,” she says with a little look of amusement.

 

Naomi worried her bottom lip slightly. So...even if she hadn’t wanted to, now she was being forced to move to the city. She couldn’t just leave this job...she had no clue where she’d get another quite as comfortable as this one. Mr. Clarence was a kind man. And finding a kind man willing to actually pay you a reasonable wage...as a woman anyway...that was extremely rare.

 

“I’ve never been to Saint Denis...honestly it doesn’t seem like the most appealing place. All those factories, and dirty streets,” she says.

 

“A young woman like yourself could do so much there. You could study art, and readin’. That’d be good for ya,” Amelia tells her then. That was true. But the city was overwhelming. She knew she wouldn’t be able to make sense of the streets, and all that noise.

 

“Well...I guess we’ll find out what’s happenin’ once Mr. Clarence gets back,” Naomi replies. She continues peeling trying not to think about it. The letter from her Aunt still had her fuming. She knew it’d be better to just ignore her. Don’t write back. But at the same time there were so many things she wanted to say to that horrible woman.

 

She wouldn’t write back though. It would be a waste of her energy and time.

 

The time spent cooking took her mind off things. She didn’t really think much when she was doing busy work like chopping vegetables, crushing spices, and stirring a pot. It kept her mind clear for the most part.

 

“You go and sit for awhile dear, I can take care of the last of the work,” Amelia says sweetly. Naomi hesitated to leave for a moment but walked out of the kitchen. It was getting late. The sun was setting, casting an orangey hue onto the living room. She walked in to close the curtains when her eyes fell on the same two men from earlier that day just across the street. She quickly shut the curtains and turned. They hadn’t looked her way...no they hadn’t. They hadn’t seen her. She shakes her head and straightens a few things before walking up the stairs to her room. 

 

Today was so hectic...too much had happened. She definitely didn’t need so much on her mind. She felt sick to her stomach, and her head hurt. She took her apron off and threw it on the bed, letting her hair fall from the bun it’d been in. She just needed to relax and not think about anything for a little while.

 

She sat down and got her hairbrush out, beginning to brush her slightly tangled locks out. She ran her fingers through it and winced when a tangle got caught on. This was an activity that seemed to clear her mind though. She felt a bit calmer by the time she was finished. She took a breath and laid back on her bed again, staring up at the ceiling. And then the thought of that man snuck into her mind again.

 

Obviously a...wanderer of sorts. The way he held those two guns said something about him though. He used them...regularly. Not just for his own protection either. Dangerous men were the last thing she needed to be thinking about.

 

She felt her eyelids become slightly heavy. A short nap wouldn’t hurt. Amelia would surely come and wake her up once things were all prepared. She turned onto her side and buried her face half into the pillow as she got herself comfortable. She dozed off without another thought, not wanting to think about things at that moment.

 

Her eyes fluttered open and her room was only lit by a single beam  of moonlight through the curtains. She sat up and she smelled food. She thought Amelia would have surely woken her up earlier than this.

 

She swings her legs over the side of the bed and gets up, walking down the stairs. Once she gets to the bottom step she hears a sniffling, like someone crying. She looks over and walks into the living room to see Amelia weeping softly. 

“Amelia...what’s wrong?” she asks then, immediately feeling her stomach twist into worried knots. Amelia looked up at her. 

 

“He hasn’t come home, Naomi...the train hasn’t come back to the station yet. It’s three hours late. I went to talk to the ticket vendor and he said that there’s word of it getting robbed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i ended it on a sort of cliffhanger cus honestly this took me too long to write. anyway i appreciate the support i've already started to get it means a lot thank you so much.


	3. Chapter 3

They didn’t sleep at all that night. Waiting for any sign that Mr. Clarence would be alright. By the next morning there still wasn’t anything new known. The authorities hadn’t even come back into town. Naomi’s mind was reeling. What if he was dead? What were they going to do?

Naomi was pacing in front of the fireplace, biting her nails, obviously very distraught. “I feel useless here! There has to be something we can do. Anything,” she says as she looks to Amelia.

“Dear you know that if there was I would be doing it...we have to wait for some word to get back to us. You know the Authorities will do the best they can,” she says, trying to keep her composure after sobbing for a good amount of hours.

The light of the morning sun coming through the living room curtains made Naomi’s worry grow. “This is ridiculous! How can no one be back with word. We’re not the only ones wanting to know if someone is okay,” she says with a stomp of her foot. She runs fingers through her hair and shakes her head.

“I’m going to the station. I need to know, I can’t just stay here,” she says as she begins to walk to the front door. Amelia got up and followed her grabbing her arm.

“Naomi, you’re not going to get anymore information than I did. No one knows what’s going on. Most of the time any robberies or hijackings don’t go on this long. Others are just as worried as us,” Amelia tells her.

Naomi slides her arm out of her grasp. “Amelia, I’m going to feel horrible if I never tried to at least find something else out. Just let me do this,” she tells her. Amelia stares for a moment before looking down.

“Okay...I won’t stop you. But please just go to the station. Don’t do anything irrational,” she nearly begs her. Naomi puts her shoes on and hurries out the door, walking towards the station. She didn’t know what her plan was really. She did start it out at the station though.

“Have you heard anything else?” She asks a bit frantically. The station clerk shakes his head a bit mournfully. 

“I’m sorry miss, I ain’t heard nothin’ else, at least nothin’ good,” he tells her apologetically. She looks down and sighs. She didn’t wanna get teary eyed here. Crying wouldn’t help, it wouldn’t fix anything. If there was a chance maybe they kept him alive she had to go and get him. Mr. Clarence had offered her a job, and a home when she had nothing. If something happened to him she didn’t know what she’d do.

She turned and walked away hurrying back to the house. When she opened the door Amelie immediately ran over.

“You’re back,” Amelie says sounding relieved. Naomi looks even more distraught than before though.

“Why haven’t they come back...there’s something wrong Amelie,” she says waveringly.

The day dragged on and on it felt like, but in the late morning the sheriff finally came back into town. His deputy was going door to door to tell people the bad news. And finally he got to their door. Naomi opened it and could already feel tears coming to her eyes then. 

“Ms. Rowland...we weren’t able to find Mr. Clarence’s body…” he tells her rather sadly. She was confused by that. 

“W-what do you mean?” She asks in confusion. Couldn’t find his body?

“Well, Miss...The raiders had laid out dynamite along the tracks. They blew the engine, and anyone near the front unfortunately didn’t get out alive. The people near the back were beaten or killed, and robbed. But out of all the bodies we weren’t able to identify one as Mr. Clarence,” he tells her.

She stares up at him. “There’s a chance he’s alive?” she asks hopefully.

“We ain’t quite sure miss. Many of them had already left by the time we got there, but the few who were still there started a shootout,” he explains. She feels tears in her eyes then.

“Won’t you go and try and find him then? If there’s a chance he’s alive, if they kidnapped him, why don’t you find him!?” She asks frantically. He tries to calm her down.

“Miss, we can’t do too much else. I’m real sorry,” he tells her.  
She can feel herself begin to cry angry tears. They weren’t doing anything. “Y’all are a bunch of useless cowards!” she cries before slamming the door and sobbing into her palms. If there was a chance he was still alive she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t try and do something.

She takes a breath before running upstairs to her room. She grabbed her satchel and walked down the stairs then. “Naomi? Where are you going?” Amelie asks worriedly.

“I’m going to go find him. There’s a chance he’s alive. I’m not going to just sit here and hope for the best,” she says.

“Don’t you dare. Something could happen. It’s dangerous out there, especially after last night!” she says firmly trying to block Naomi’s path. Naomi pushes past though.

“Amelie, I can’t stay. I have to try,” she tells her. She walks to Mr. Clarence’s study, and opens his desk drawer finding the gun he keeps in there. “I’m going.”

Amelie looked close to tears again. “Dear please don’t do this. I can’t bear losing you too,” she tells her.

Naomi looks at Amelie and is quiet for a moment. “It’s gonna be okay,” she says, although she didn’t sound that sure. She hugged Amelie then. “I’m fine...I can do this. I need to know that he’s okay.” He had been like a father to her really. Losing him would be too much for her. She just needed to do this.

Naomi wasn’t sure what she was doing quite honestly. She knew it was thoughtless and impulsive. She’d never even shot a gun and now she was just hoping she’d know how to take steady aim. She was being stupid...but she didn’t care.

She walked towards the back door then. “Naomi please think about this. It’s crazy what you’re doing. Even if he is alive if the Raiders have him what will you do?” Amelie asked, trying to talk some sense into her.

“I guess I’ll find that out when it happens,” she answered. She walks out the back door walking over to Lilah, Mr. Clarence’s horse. She picks up the saddle and hefts it onto her back.

“Naomi...please,” Amelie begs one last time.

Naomi can feel herself about to cry then, but she blinks back the tears. “I’m a big, strong girl. I can take care of myself,” she says. She finally climbs onto the horse, giving Amelie a reassuring smile.

Without another word she rides off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the shortness of this chapter however i felt like it's a good way to end it and start up chapter 4 where some more interesting things will happen and we can finally kinda start naomi's journey. also sorry for taking so long for an update :( writing is hard and also real life is hard


End file.
